White Feathers
by thelightningstrike
Summary: Sirius helps Emmeline close her wounds. Written for Static Lull at the HPFFC Drabble Request Thread.


**White Feathers**

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**Pairing: **Sirius Black & Emmeline Vance (not necessarily a couple, though)

**Word Count: **804

**Summary: **Sirius helps Emmeline close her wounds.

**Author's Notes: **Written for Static Lull at the HPFFC's Drabble Request Thread. The characters given were Sirius Black and Emmeline Vance, and the prompts were 'bird cages' and 'open wounds'. I hope I interpreted this okay and that the product is believable. I really liked the idea once I thought of it and it took me a few days to develop it properly, but I'm proud of the outcome, because it isn't fluffy or romantic in any way, which is usually all I can do. I hope you like it!

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Sirius could hear the birds tweeting before he'd even opened the door. He was surprised to find it unlocked, what with her being a member of the Order and thus targeted by Death Eaters, but then figured that a locked door wouldn't stop them if they knew where she was.

"Vance," he called, walking down the hallway. He could hear nothing but birds tweeting, which seemed to be coming from behind the door at the end of the hall which led to the kitchen. "Vance!?" He took out his wand as he edged further down the corridor, holding it just behind his right leg.

With his foot, he nudged the door open, and was instantly relieved to see Emmeline in the garden on one of her wrought iron chairs, cages and cages of birds surrounding her. He walked quickly through the kitchen and into the garden.

"What's with the birds?" he asked, dropping himself into the chair beside her, careful not to kick any of the cages over.

Emmeline didn't say anything for a while, just played with the catch of the nearest cage, the bird inside fluttering in various attempts to escape. "My dad died. He had a... collection."

"Oh," Sirius said. He never knew how to react to death; never quite knew what to say when it was someone he didn't know. So he said the words he so hated to hear himself, because even though he did, she might not. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't know him," she said blandly. "So how can you be sorry?"

Sirius swallowed, running a hand through his hair. "How did he die?"

"At the hands of Rabastan Lestrange, sent personally to find him by- by Voldemort, as a warning to me." She sighed heavily. She looked so tired.

"A warning to you?" Sirius couldn't help but feel proud and slightly jealous that Voldemort knew of her resistance against him.

"To stop what I'm doing. To stop resisting. Clearly it's one more strike and I'm out."

"Oh. So you blame yourself for your father's death, then?" Sirius tried to catch her eye but she kept looking at the cage door, opening and closing it but never letting the bird free.

She didn't reply. The answer was obvious.

"Em... it's not your fault."

"Doesn't matter. It still hurts. He still got to me, whether it's my fault or not." She didn't seem angry at Sirius- although he would have preferred it if she was.

"The pain will ease. It will get better over time. You need to shut it off for now, Em. While the wound is open, it can't heal."

Again, she didn't reply. All he was saying was pointless drivel, anyway.

"You need to set the birds free, Vance." The surname was back, his momentary polite, soft tone gone. "Right now."

"They were my father's. They're all I have left of his." She'd never understood his muggle-like habits of watching and breeding birds. Now she regretted it. She'd had years when she could have learnt to understand- maybe to have shared the passion with him.

"And while you still have them your wound is still open. Set them free; close the damn wound and get on with your life. I'm sure that's what your dad would have wanted. We need you up and working, Vance." He knew he was being insensitive, and he didn't really mean it, but this was the only way he could help her. It was either this or nothing.

When she didn't answer again, Sirius reached for the nearest birdcage, bringing it onto his lap. She watched, expressionless, as he opened the cage door and set the little white dove free, watching it go as it flew higher and higher into the sky. When he reached for another, she didn't stop him, just watched as again this time two birds where released simultaneously.

Sirius worked steadily through them all until there was only one left- the one who's cage she had been playing with. He looked at her and this time she looked back. "Can you do it?" he asked gently.

Emmeline fiddled with the catch, deliberating. She opened it slowly but placed a hand across it so that the struggling bird still could not escape. She wanted so desperately for it not to want to, for it to stay when it had the opportunity to leave her behind. She took away her hand and the bird took off like a rocket into the sky-

but not without leaving behind a perfect white feather.

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End file.
